


Happy Birthday Emma

by Eliizabethx



Series: Once Upon A Descendant [4]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies), Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: 1x01, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Descendants (Disney Movies) Fusion, Alternate Universe - Fusion, First Meetings, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:02:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25976398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eliizabethx/pseuds/Eliizabethx
Summary: Literally just a rewrite of 1x01 lmao, hope you enjoy!
Relationships: Henry Mills & Emma Swan
Series: Once Upon A Descendant [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1884943
Comments: 16
Kudos: 15





	Happy Birthday Emma

_Happy birthday, Em! I’ll see you in a week._

Rereading August’s text made her feel simultaneously less and _more_ alone.

_Try to do something fun okay? You only turn 28 once, make the most of it!_

Well, catching her bail-jumpers has always been _kinda_ fun, but somehow she doesn’t think that’s what he was going for.

She kicks her heels off by the door, still cursing the guy for making her chase him in them, and steps up to the counter with her bag.

_I’ve got a bit of a surprise for you. You’re probably gonna hate it, but it’s a big deal, so you’ll just have to deal with it._

She sighs, sitting her little cupcake in front of her and sticking in her lone candle. She’s decidedly curious about this ‘surprise’ but mostly she just misses her brother, even if he has been acting annoyingly mysterious and cagey recently.

_I love you._

She slowly lights the candle, bending down to fold her arms on the counter, resting her chin on them and staring at the flickering flame.

“Happy birthday,” she whispers to herself before closing her eyes and lifting her head just enough to blow out the candle.

She plucks the candle from the pastry and has the end halfway to her mouth before the doorbell freezes her.

She turns to the door with a frown, quickly licking the frosting off the candle and dropping it in the sink as she rounds the counter.

She opens the door and her gaze immediately drops to the kid staring up at her, taking him in with a confused frown. Brown hair, brown eyes, barely stands as tall as her shoulders.

“Um,” she hesitates, glancing down the hall for an adult following the wayward kid. “Can I help you?”

“Are you Emma Swan?” He asks.

“Yeah, who are you?”

“My name’s Henry,” he says with a wide smile, before promptly spinning her world on its head. “I’m your son.”

She knows she’s gaping at him, but he just stares back unflinchingly.

 _He’s not lying._ That little gut instinct tells her.

~

“Why did I agree to this again?” She mumbles, her hands clenched on the steering wheel.

“Because I’m ten?” The kid offers, glancing towards her with a small, amused smile.

The expression instantly makes her think of August, much to her surprise, which inevitably makes her think of what he’d have to say about this.

If she’s lucky she’ll be able to drop the kid at his house, go back to her apartment, and then pretend this never happened. August can be none-the-wiser, and she can go back to her perfectly adequate life.

She catches him once again staring intently at the massive book he’d pulled out of his bag earlier.

“What is that anyway?” She asks, curious despite herself.

He looks up with a dubious expression, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

“I’m not sure you’re ready.”

“Ready for some fairytales?”

“They’re not fairytales,” he says. “They’re true. Every story in this book _actually_ happened.”

“Course they did.”

“Use your superpower,” he says. “See if I’m lying.”

“... Just because you believe something, doesn’t make it true,” she says after a moment.

“That’s exactly what makes it true!” He insists, sounding so much like August she actually does a double-take. “You should know that more than anyone.”

“And why is that?”

“Because you’re in this book.”

She stares at him with her own frown, but he just meets her eyes determinedly.

“Kid,” she says slowly, shaking her head and turning back to the road. “You’ve got problems.”

“Yep, and you’re gonna fix them,” he says flippantly.

She turns to stare at him incredulously, but there's a steely, determined set to his face that stalls any words she might have said.

~

“Please don’t take me back there,” Henry begs, reluctantly following her as she pushes open the gate leading to his _massive_ house.

“I have to,” she says, determinedly ignoring the tight knot in her stomach. “I’m sure your parents are worried sick about you.”

“I don’t have parents.” There’s something bitter in the words that makes her steps slow, letting him surpass her. “Just a mom, and she’s _evil_.”

She pauses in the middle of the walk and he turns to stare at her with something depressingly resigned.

“‘Evil’?” She repeats. “That’s a bit extreme, isn’t it?”

“She is,” he says, though his voice has gone strangely dispassionate. “She doesn’t love me or Evie, she only pretends to.”

“ _Kid_.” Her heart clenches painfully at the dejected look in his eyes. “I’m sure that’s not true.”

“It _is_ ,” he insists, looking up at her plaintively.

She doesn’t know what to say to him and latches on to the first thing she thinks of. “... Who’s Evie?”

“My sister.”

Before she can ask any other questions the front door is opened and a woman with dark hair rushes out, calling Henry’s name as she wraps her arms around him tightly.

Lingering in the doorway is a tall, handsome blonde guy with a badge and a pretty teenage girl with long blue-black hair. The man shoots her a small, polite smile, but the girl’s attention is locked on Henry and their mother with tear-filled eyes.

“Are you okay?” The Mayor asks, pulling back to hold Henry by his shoulders. “Where have you been?!”

Emma is a bit taken aback by the heated glare Henry levels on the woman.

“I found my real mom!” He says, rushing past her towards the house.

The cop had started moving closer while the two were speaking, but Emma can see the girl still exactly where she’d been in the doorway. As Henry rushes forward her arms open almost automatically and Henry all but slams into her. She wraps her arms tight around his shoulders and leans down a bit to press her face against the top of Henry’s head, and then in the next instant he’s pulling away and dragging her deeper into the house.

Emma looks up and meets the Mayor’s tear-stained eyes with what she hopes is an apologetic expression. The woman looks pale and shocked, and Emma can’t even imagine how weird this must be for her.

“You’re Henry’s birth mother?”

“Hi…” She says awkwardly, barely restraining herself from shifting uncomfortably on her feet.

“I’ll just- uh, go check on the lad. Make sure he’s alright,” the cop says with an attractive accent, looking about as uncomfortable as she feels, and then disappears into the house.

She turns back to watch the Mayor swallow harshly, a blatantly forced smile on her face.

“How would you like a glass of the best apple cider you’ve ever tasted?” She asks, a guarded look in her eyes that Emma recognizes.

“Got anything stronger?” She counters, trying to break some of the tension.

~ **Evie**

She lets Henry drag her upstairs, still trying to push down the relieved tears she’s been fighting since she saw him standing outside. He lets go of her hand once they’re in his room and all but slams his door shut, tossing his backpack on the floor by the foot of his bed and then throwing himself down on top of the covers.

She stifles a small (semi-hysterical) laugh at the dramatics of it, but walks around to sit on the opposite edge, reaching out and stroking soothingly through his hair like she used to do when he was small enough to still take naps.

“Henry,” she sighs, trying to release some of her tension with it. “What were you thinking? You scared us half to death.”

“I found her,” he mutters into his comforter.

“The blonde woman?”

“That’s my mom,” he says, looking up at her with a near desperate expression. “Her name is Emma Swan.”

She opens her mouth but no words come out. She’s thankfully saved from looking like a fish by a knock on the door, followed shortly by Sheriff Graham’s head poking in.

“Can I come in?” He requests, making Evie smile a little when Henry reluctantly says yes.

He closes the door behind him again and circles the bed to crouch in front of them, waiting to speak until Henry has sat up and pressed himself into her side.

“Are you alright?” He asks gently, genuine concern on his face.

Henry nods mutely.

“You gave us all quite the fright, you know?” Sheriff Graham says. Evie’s always appreciated how upfront he is with her brother, who most people tend to tiptoe around for fear of offending their mother. “Your mother and sister were very frightened that something might have happened to you.”

Henry looks at her from the corner of his eye, seeming contrite as he slips his hand into hers.

“I’m sorry for scaring you,” he mumbles to her and she squeezes his hand in acknowledgment. “But I _had_ to find her.”

“The woman that brought you home?” Sheriff Graham asks. “That was your birth mother?”

Henry nods but he’s gone suddenly tight-lipped, and she recognizes the stubborn gleam in his eyes. He’s decided he’s done talking now, at least to Graham.

She gives the Sheriff a grateful smile and he inclines his head in understanding. She’s always surprised by how easily he understands her.

“I’ll let your mother know that you’re safely abed,” he says, standing up and shooting her a small, amused smile.

He slips quietly from the room and she takes a minute to just lean her head against Henry’s, grateful that he’s home and safe.

**Author's Note:**

> Yay, our first Descendants character~! My sweet girl Evie! ♥ I have so many plans... Idk if you'll see them all, but my brain is just overflowing lmao
> 
> I hope you enjoyed! Please feel free to leave a comment, I always reply and they make my week! ^^  
> You can find me on tumblr at [ElvhenWitch](http://www.elvhenwitch.tumblr.com) ♥ and twitter at [Elfbich](https://twitter.com/elfbich)


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